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Monday, May 28, 2007

Do Enforcement Officers have So Much Power?

Just fancy that!This shop has been fined RM22,500 for selling Milo at RM1.80 a glass or 20 to 30 sen more than the normal price.

It is good that the Consumer Affairs Ministry is taking a serious view of unscrupulous traders who now see a small fortune to be made from the extra RM8 billion that civil servants have to spend but acting like hooligans seems somewhat inappropriate.

We all know that the civil service is about twice the number that other countries support which means 50% of the workers can be termed "gaji buta" or else the whole service is working at 50% work load.

Those in the private sector have to compete for a scarce resource like labour and it is only natural to want to extract more from those with a reliable income like those on "gaji buta".

Don't get me wrong - if any shop increases the price of drinks too much, I simply stop drinking at that shop. In fact I seldom order drinks nowadays as it is always too sweet even when you tell them to "kurang manis".One other aspect of their actions should be looked into. According to the report,

"As a deterrent to others, enforcement officers from the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry also seized food and drinks worth about RM750 and tore down the shop’s signboard."

I would want to know the following:"What happened to the seized goods?""Was the signboard illegally constructed?"

We should not condone excessive reactions but only actions that are within the law. If people break laws, those enforcement officers cannot justify any action that is not within their authority.

2 comments:

Milo drinks sold at mamak stall is not a "price controlled" item. If I don't like it, then I just skip that shop. It's simple as that. Milo sold at KFC, McDonalds, Foodcourts etc have various prices. These enforcement officers are just bullies-in-uniforms. The distributors, wholesalers & middle-man are the main culprits in profiteering and manupilating the market prices of some essential goods (eg. the price of sugar last year). Why not use their "big hammer" to bang these bustards. Instead they preferred to bully the mamaks! Don't mistaken, I am not supporting the price increase by the mamak stalls, though it is their right to determine the price of the beverage offered--- same as KFC, McDonalds etc. But the choice is ours. If come to the worst, make your our milo drinks!

MALAYSIAWATCH POLL 28 17th July 2007Why Do You Think the Government Has Changed its Mind about Disclosing Toll Agreements?

I Support the Government's Decision The Government has made a major blunder with secret Toll Agreements The Public Have Been Cheated and Disclosure will Anger the Citizens The OSA have been Abused to Favour Government Cronies. Toll Agreements should be made public